I recently had these sweetcorn pancakes at Rusha’s in Devon during our summer holiday. After spending the afternoon at Strete Beach in Dartmouth, Devon, we returned to Rusha’s place. We sat in her magical kitchen around a tiny, round table warmed by her Aga stove, listening to the pitter-patter of rain outside, sipping rooibush tea while she prepared a meal for us, which included these delicious sweetcorn pancakes.

This is what I wrote to a friend after that day

–

woke to a misty sort of day

dosa and sambar with Lulu and Rusha

at our place

then onwards to the beach

with it’s tiny coloured pebbles

zillions of them

racing dark clouds

freezing cold water

and they went swimming anyway

back to Rusha’s magical home

an amazing dinner prepared with love

a colourful mix match of antique plates and forks

sweet corn and chard pancakes

babaganoush in a big, earthy bowl

roasted red pepper and melon sprinkled with ruby jewels of pomegranate

dessert strawberries and clotted cream sprinkled with sugar

–

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Ponsworthy in Devon, England

SWEETCORN CHARD FRITTERS

serves 4

ingredients

2 fresh corn cobs

¾ cup chickpea flour

½ – ¾ cup water

½ tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cumin seeds, lightly toasted

¼ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp rock salt

½ green chilli, finely chopped (optional)

freshly ground black pepper

huge handful spinach, kale or silverbeet and lightly steamed (about 1 cup chopped)

a handful of finely chopped coriander

olive oil or ghee for frying

preparation

  1. Cut corn off the cobs until you have about 2 cups.
  2. Heat a little ghee or oil in a small pan, add cumin seeds, fry for a few seconds, then add the chilli. Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. Combine chickpea flour with coriander powder, cumin seeds, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Add water to make a smooth paste, and allow it to sit for 5 minutes.
  4. Add corn kernels, finely chopped steamed kale, spinach or silverbeet, and coriander—mix until well incorporated.
  5. Heat a skillet, drizzle a little olive oil or ghee, and add a heaped tablespoon of mixture to the skillet. Flatten it slightly with a spoon.
  6. Fry the corn cakes until golden on one side, then flip to cook the other side. The heat must be high enough to create a good sizzle without being too high that it cooks the outside before the inside is ready. Turn over and cook for a further 3 to 5 minutes. Remove and eat immediately.

Serve the pancakes topped with a little of this salad and spicy guacamole or hummus.

variation

Take ½ cup of prepared batter and process for 10 – 15 seconds. Transfer back to the bowl. If it looks a little dry, add more water. You can experiment with the texture while cooking. I find that if the mixture is quite moist, it handles better.

make your own chickpea flour

Place about 1½ cups of dried chickpeas in your high-speed blender and grind on high for a few minutes until the flour stops falling into the middle of the container (you will understand this once you do it). Then, pour the contents of the blender into a fine-mesh sieve and sift until fine chickpea flour and coarse legume bits are separated. You should end up with less than 1 cup of fine chickpea flour. 

Goodness shared from Stacey